In her first move following her husband Donald’s resounding election victory, Melania Trump released a powerful statement promising Americans that his administration would always ‘safeguard’ freedom.

It was a bold and unambiguous message from a woman once famed for her inscrutability, and the latest sign that the First Lady we see during the second Trump administration may be very different to the one we are accustomed to.

For while Melania, 54, has long wielded personal power behind the scenes, her increasing willingness to assert herself in public signals her emergence as a formidable political player in her own right – a fact undoubtedly recognised by her husband.

Evidence of this newly empowered Melania was on full display at the MAGA victory party in Palm Beach on Tuesday night, where she appeared on stage alongside her husband and their 18-year-old son, Barron.

If this was the ‘reluctant’ First Lady serving only as ‘arm candy’ that hostile commentators spoke of in 2016, there was no sign of it – with the former model visibly relishing her moment in the limelight.

The shift in her demeanor was noted by body language expert Judi James, who described this appearance as the moment Melania was publicly acknowledged by Trump as ‘the jewel in his political crown’.

‘First time around Melania was back in the chorus line, but this time she was promoted as a star in her own right and Trump’s gesticulation and touch rituals with her gave the impression that he seeks support and strength from her rather than the other way round,’ she said.

‘Last time Trump guarded his glory and personalised his power and fame rituals but now he was looking like a sharer at last, allowing his wife to claim a victory during his historic night.’

Ms James suggested Melania’s behaviour evidenced ‘a much more united and evenly-status POTUS and FLOTUS ‘.

‘A revealing signal of Melania’s power and confidence came as she stretched an arm out to place her hand on Trump’s back to steer (or gently push) him back to the lectern,’ she continued to Paddy Power Games.

‘A final signal of Trump’s new power dynamic with Melania came when another guy took to the mic and Trump edged across to his wife to push his fingers into her hand like a small child seeking reassurance from its mother.’

During her first term as First Lady, Melania was most notable for her silence, with each of the tiny number of public statements she gave poured over for anything that might shed even the smallest light on her attitudes and beliefs.

She was largely absent from the campaign trail in the run-up to this year’s election, aside from occasional interventions such as a short statement after the first assassination attempt on her husband.

But this all changed following the publication of her eponymous autobiography early last month, where she made her most pointed political intervention to date on the issue of abortion.

Wading into one of the thorniest issues in American politics, Melania wrote of the need for women to ‘have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children’ free from government intervention.

This full-throated defence of abortion rights came in marked contrast to her husband, who had spoken proudly of his role in overturning the abortion rights precedent set by Roe v Wade before wavering on the issue in the run-up to the election.

Indeed, the intervention was seen by some commentators as an attempt to soften her husband’s image on the subject, although she insists she had held these views all her life.

The memoir also saw Melania finally address what may be her biggest scandal: the decision to wear a jacket embossed with the words ‘I really don’t care, do u?’ during a visit to meet child migrants in 2018.

A defiant Melania rejected criticism the stunt was distasteful, describing instead as a ‘discreet yet impactful’ protest against ‘anonymously sourced reporting’.

‘I was determined… not to let the media’s false narratives affect my mission to help the children and families at the border,’ she wrote.

‘In fact, I decided to let them know that their criticism would never stop me from doing what I feel is right. To make the point, I wore a particular jacket as I boarded the plane, a jacket that quickly became famous.’

Elsewhere in her memoir, the Slovenian-American gave a hint of her behind-the-scenes political influence by claiming to have forced her husband to drop his hardline immigration policy of separating children from their parents at the border.

Her memoir aside, Melania has made a number of notable public appearances in recent weeks, including a rare TV appearance last week in which she offered a stout defence of her husband following claims his Madison Square pre-election rally resembled a ‘Nazi rally’.

‘It is terrible. He is not Hitler and his supporters stand behind him because they want to see the country successful. We see what kind of support he has,’ she said.

While Melania’s public statements have largely been confined to the last month, her relative silence in the years following her husband’s 2020 election loss should not be misunderstood for inaction.

Instead, the former model has been using the time to build up her already formidable fortune, which she notably likes to keep separate from her husband’s.

Following previous experiments selling face creams and jewellery, she has recently made a series of low-profile but highly lucrative campaign appearances that tap into her cult status among the MAGA movement.

This includes a campaign fundraising event in April for an LGBT group called the Log Cabin Republicans, which netted her a fee of $237,500 (£184,000), according to the Trump campaign’s latest financial disclosures.

She previously received three payments of $250,000 (£194,000) for speaking engagements in December 2022, appearing before both Log Cabin Republicans and the group Fix California , which campaigns for fair elections.

And, of course, there was her memoir in October, which initially sold at $40 (£31) a copy (or $116 for a signed edition).

In the book she described financial independence as ‘a core value’, writing: ‘I have long been driven to work hard and earn my own money. I firmly believe in maintaining control over one’s own life, regardless of who you marry.’

While Melania seems increasingly keen to be heard in her own right, there is one subject she has always remained silent on – her husband’s numerous court cases.

She was nowhere to be seen while he appeared in court in Miami to plead not guilty to allegations of handling classified documents, nor in Georgia where he was charged with crimes linked to efforts to overturn the 2020 election result.

And, unsurprisingly, she chose not to attend Donald’s trial for falsifying business records over hush money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels, who repeatedly took to the stand to air lurid claims about his sexual infidelity.

With Donald returning to the White House , focus will inevitably return to Melania’s living arrangements and what they say about her relationship with her husband.

Melania famously delayed her move into the White House for a year during the first Trump administration – apparently because she was staying with her son Barron while he finished high school in Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Reports subsequently emerged that she and Donald slept in separate bedrooms when they were together at the White House, before an unauthorised biography from CNN reporter Kate Bennett went further to suggest they occupied different floors.

Recently Melania has been living in an apartment in Trump Tower with son Barron as he undertakes his studies at New York University – and sources have suggested she will continue living there and, on occasion, at Mar-a-Lago in Florida .

This indicates she is unlikely to be a visible daily presence at the White House like previous First Ladies.

And while Trump looks set to reserve prominent posts in his administration to family members like Lara Trump – wife of his son Eric – there seems little chance of Melania taking up a significant official role beyond her existing duties.

Even so, no one should be in doubt of her power… or her ability to wield it.